These Graphics Show Why People Look More Attractive In Groups

Wednesday

Nov 6, 2013 at 6:00 PM

Kelly Dickerson

A recent study, published Oct. 25 in the journal Psychological Science found that people look more attractive in groups — dubbed the cheerleader effect.

Researchers attributed this trend to the human brain averaging out the features of people in a group. For example, a crooked nose will seem less crooked in a group of people with straight noses. We've pulled some graphics from the study which demonstrate the widely applicable trends.

In the following picture, the woman on the left received higher ratings for attractiveness when appearing in a group photo than when appearing by herself:

In the following picture, the highlighted woman received a higher attractiveness rating when appearing in a collage than when appearing by herself:

Part of the same study also found that an individual's attractiveness rating increased when their picture was blurred. Researchers attributed this effect to a blurred image looks even more like an ideal face since most imperfections are too blurry to see.

In the following graphic, you can see how subjects received the highest attractiveness rating in a blurred group photo and the lowest ratings in a non-blurred portrait photo:

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